Twin Beech 18
This is one of my favorite airplanes and is probably one of the reasons I am a bit hard of hearing. This wonderful bird will make an honest pilot out of those who think they have all aspects of aviation mastered.
What I am about to share is a true story about myself flying a similar Beech 18 on a mail contract out of Victoria Texas in the mid 1970's. I operated this aircraft on wheels and floats during my aviation career and have had more exciting moments in the Beech 18 than any other aircraft I've flown. Before I share my experience let's take a short familiarization flight.
Courtesy of
Watch full screen
Yes I love flying - can you tell? Back in the day it used to be fun.
McCoy Road Story
In 1975 I was living in Victoria Texas, working as a night airmail pilot. My route began in Victoria Texas with stops at Houston, Lufkin, and Dallas with a return route in reverse order. My typical load consisted of 2,000 pounds of mail sacks and boxes which I had the pleasure of loading/unloading at each stop.
My Beech 18 was rock solid but it just had the basic necessities when it came to equipment, no fancy things like weather radar and flight directors.
My Office
As you can see, I used state of the art 1950's equipment and when it all worked life was good. Flying a night airmail route in southeast Texas has certain thrills built in when you are not equipped to see into the clouds, such as hail and...
The load I picked up in Dallas contained 30,000 Social Security checks for folks in Victoria and the surrounding area, which they were all looking forward to receiving on February 1st.
Folks you can't see these in the dark of night!
I had one piece of equipment that would point out areas of lightening but gave no information on distance. When it came to Texas size thunderstorms my equipment could be compared to taking a knife to a gun fight . I saw a storm topping 70,000 feet one night and fortunately there was enough lightening in the area for me to avoid it.
Automatic Direction Finder (ADF)/Non-directional Beacon (NDB)
The NDB needle point would point to lightening flashes in my vicinity. If there were a lot of flashes, the needle would dance all over the gauge making it pretty useless for navigation.
On January 31, 1975, my 31st birthday, I departed Victoria, Texas on schedule. My flight through Houston, Lufkin, and into Dallas arrived about 2330 (11:30 pm). It was not a night for sight seeing as the entire route was engulfed in clouds consisting of multiple cloud layers.
This was about all I saw at my various stops.
The flight back began to get interesting upon arrival in Houston at approximately 0200 (2:00 am) February 1, 1975. The weather had deteriorated to a cloud ceiling of 100 feet with visibility at a quarter of a mile, which was below landing minimums.
A DC-3 was on approach ahead of me. Due to the weather he said he couldn't see anything at minimums and executed a missed approach.
A DC-3 was on approach ahead of me. Due to the weather he said he couldn't see anything at minimums and executed a missed approach.
DC-3
Houston approach advised me the airport was below landing minimums and asked for my intentions. A quick review of the weather indicated every airport within 1,000 miles was below landing minimums: I scratched those hopes and declared an emergency for no available alternate airport in fuel range.
Houston then cleared me for the approach and advised me to report "landing" and "clear of the runway." After landing I had a couple miles to taxi in the fog so I continued to listen to the airport towers communication with the DC-3 inbound on his second attempt.
Just before I arrived at the mail terminal, the tower lost contact with the DC-3. As it turned out, the DC-3 hit a radio tower 75 feet above the ground and crashed two miles short of the runway. The crew of 2 and 3 passengers were killed. 4 passengers were seriously injured and 7 passengers received minor injuries. It is amazing anyone survived!
The DC-3 accident report.
The DC-3 crash closed the airport for a time. My scheduled departure for Victoria was delayed about two hours. I topped off my fuel tanks based on reports of marginal weather in Victoria just in case I needed it.
I was finally cleared for departure about 0400 (4:00 am).The flight to Victoria was about 45 minutes at 4,000 feet. It was beautiful between cloud layers.
As I approached my descent point to begin the approach procedure for Victoria my aircraft experienced a complete electrical failure. I thought this shouldn't be a big deal I'll just switch to the emergency power source and continue on. When I flipped the emergency power switch all I saw was a flash of light. The backup system also failed.
I thought, well this is great. With my system failure I couldn't talk to anyone and had no ability to navigate let alone shoot an approach down through the clouds.
I thought, well this is great. With my system failure I couldn't talk to anyone and had no ability to navigate let alone shoot an approach down through the clouds.
I had some decisions to make. I knew where I was in relation to Victoria when I lost electrical power. I had another three and a half hours of fuel remaining and about an hour and half remaining before first daylight. I also knew the weather was terrible anywhere within fuel range. My assigned altitude was below Houston's radar coverage so flying an emergency pattern would be of no use. I was completely on my own. However, I did begin flying a triangle pattern with 2 minute straight legs just to maintain my position while I sorted things out. The winds were calm so this kept me fairly close to my last confirmed position.
My options were nothing to write home about, in fact, they were down right ugly based on the weather forecast.
- I was near Victoria and about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. One option would be to fly southeast for 30 minutes to get out over the Gulf at first light. Once offshore I could descend down through the clouds and hopefully see something before flying into the water or worse yet hitting an oil platform. My hope would then be to visually approach the beech followed by a landing on the beach. Not a good option in my opinion, too much was left to chance.
- I could maintain my position and continue flying the 2 minute leg triangle pattern while hoping for weather improvement with the onset of daylight.
I couldn't believe I had done this to myself. Even with the DC-3 in Houston crashing on approach, I still went against sound judgment and made this flight. At this point the best judgment call I had made all night was adding extra fuel in Houston. It gave a lot of extra time to consider my plight while flying this triangle before I ran out of fuel and was forced down.
I had this feeling in my gut telling me not to leave Houston, but did I listen to it? NO! So I began to have a conversation with Jesus and confessed that I had put myself in this situation by going against the gut feeling He had provided me in Houston. I asked for His forgiveness for being so stupid and asked Him to help me get out of this spot alive. I asked Him if He would give me a place to land safely. I also told Him that in the future I would try much harder to make responsible decisions.
I had this feeling in my gut telling me not to leave Houston, but did I listen to it? NO! So I began to have a conversation with Jesus and confessed that I had put myself in this situation by going against the gut feeling He had provided me in Houston. I asked for His forgiveness for being so stupid and asked Him to help me get out of this spot alive. I asked Him if He would give me a place to land safely. I also told Him that in the future I would try much harder to make responsible decisions.
By this time I had completed 10 to 15 triangle patterns with nothing but clouds below me. As I made the next turn in the triangle, I noticed an area ahead of me that appeared darker than the rest of the cloud layer I was flying above, which was not there on the previous patterns. I realized Jesus was was answering my prayer and providing a solution. That dark spot turned into an area free of clouds all the way to the ground! It looked somewhat similar to this.
I flew over to it and sure enough it was an area with a radius of about five miles. With all the weather reports stating there were no areas within a 1,000 miles, when I left Houston, that were suitable for visual flight. The sight of this left me rejoicing! There is nothing compared to seeking the Lord in desperation and having Him provide the very hope you need at that moment in time!
I flew around in this hole for an hour waiting for the Sun to rise so I could see what God had opened just for me. All the while I was praising Him for His grace, which He showered on such a character as myself in spite of myself.
I flew around in this hole for an hour waiting for the Sun to rise so I could see what God had opened just for me. All the while I was praising Him for His grace, which He showered on such a character as myself in spite of myself.
As the Sun began to rise I could see there was one straight dirt road that looked just wide enough for the main gear of my aircraft and long enough to land on. First I needed to fly around in the area and make sure there was no airport available that could have spared me any potential embarrassment of landing on a road. I flew by a water tower that had Bloomington Texas written on it but I had no idea where that was in relation to Victoria.
By now it was getting lighter so, I flew along side the road to evaluate my landing area.
After deciding there were no airports within the area the Lord had provided. I noticed three items of concern:
After deciding there were no airports within the area the Lord had provided. I noticed three items of concern:
- High tension power lines ran across the road that I chose for the approach end.
- There was a fence running along side the road that had one post sticking up higher than the others. Would my wing clear this post?
- On each side of the road was a ditch angling down from the road leaving no room for error when it came to wheel placement during this landing.
I flew a downwind leg (a long level flight path parallel to the landing runway but in the opposite direction) looking the area over once again. I decided I would have to fly under the power lines on final approach to have enough distance to stop.
I made the approach.
Upon landing I kept the tail up until the wing cleared the high fence post.
The Plane rolled to a stop.
Whew!!!!!
I made the approach.
Upon landing I kept the tail up until the wing cleared the high fence post.
The Plane rolled to a stop.
Whew!!!!!
After shutting down the engines, I climbed out of the cockpit to view my surroundings. On my left was a farmhouse and on the opposite side of the road was a black and white road sign.
IT SAID McCoy Rd!
There I was staring at the road sign with my name on it. Not only did God did give me a road to land on, He gave me one displaying my name! At that moment I praised the Lord and thanked Him for saving my life.
After taking a few minutes to gather my wits, I walked over to the farm house and knocked on the door. A gentleman answered and I introduced myself as James E. McCoy.
He said, "Son I think you've come home, the name of the fella that owns that property along the road you landed on is also James E. McCoy. Are you related?"
I responded, "no." However, I was sure happy to see this road after asking the Lord to give me an option since I had lost my electrical system along with my navigation and communication ability. I then asked if I could use his phone to call and close my flight plan.
IT SAID McCoy Rd!
There I was staring at the road sign with my name on it. Not only did God did give me a road to land on, He gave me one displaying my name! At that moment I praised the Lord and thanked Him for saving my life.
After taking a few minutes to gather my wits, I walked over to the farm house and knocked on the door. A gentleman answered and I introduced myself as James E. McCoy.
He said, "Son I think you've come home, the name of the fella that owns that property along the road you landed on is also James E. McCoy. Are you related?"
I responded, "no." However, I was sure happy to see this road after asking the Lord to give me an option since I had lost my electrical system along with my navigation and communication ability. I then asked if I could use his phone to call and close my flight plan.
After a quick "sure come on in" I was on the phone cancelling my flight plan. I was two and half hours over due and they thought I had crashed like the DC-3 had previously. Much to their relief I was down safe and alive.
For many years following this event, Flight Service would ask if I was the guy who landed on McCoy Rd? This question always brought a smile to my face. Isn't God amazing!
For many years following this event, Flight Service would ask if I was the guy who landed on McCoy Rd? This question always brought a smile to my face. Isn't God amazing!
Does God answer prayer? My answer is YES, even when we don't deserve it! Praise the Lord He lives!
The following three pictures are from Google Earth. They depict the area where these events took place. If you zoom in you can see Google displaying my name on McCoy Rd.
The following three pictures are from Google Earth. They depict the area where these events took place. If you zoom in you can see Google displaying my name on McCoy Rd.
Google Earth snapshot of McCoy Rd.
Zoom to 150% to read McCoy Rd.
Above Victoria Airport
Bloomington Texas Below
Now if you like you can enjoy a Beech 18 aerobatic flight performance from the cockpit with Matt Younkin
Be sure to watch full screen
Northwest Flying Inc's Beech-18 on floats - short video clip to enjoy.
And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
1 John 3:22
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
I am here to share this story only because of Him, Jesus is worthy of our praise! Thank you Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment